Betrayed Forced Mate - Page 18

“Yeah,” Percy says, “most politicians we’ve met on our missions send other people to fetch their drinks. Hard to imagine them taking matters into their own hands.”

“But if he was trying to kidnap her, does that mean we think this is our guy?” Rafael asks, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall. His long, brown hair is tied into a knot on top of his head, and the scar running through his left eyebrow shimmers faintly in the light. “The one connected to the vampires and moving all this money on their behalf?”

“No,” Percy says, shaking his head, “it couldn’t be him—the person we’re looking for would have been in attendance at all of the events. They’re @BatStoker online, and we’re pretty sure their posts are spiking the vampire activity. They’ve posted about every event. Posted pictures—just never of themselves.”

“Are you sure it’s a person you’re looking for?” Rafael asks, tilting his head. “Do we have any idea what paranormal status we’re looking at? Shifter? Vamp?”

“We’d assume vamp,” I say, anger spiking inside me. Of course it’s a vampire—they tend to be the root of most problems. “Based on how the vampire activity spikes when they’re in town.”

“But why would they try to take Olivia?” Bigby asks, pulling a marble from his pocket and rolling it between his fingers. “And what was it that compromised her identity?”

“Why must everything with you guys happen so late?” Triste asks, startling everyone as she pushes into the room in her pajamas.

“It’s only eleven,” Maisie laughs, glancing at the clock as though she can’t be sure she remembers the time correctly. When I look closer at her, I see bags under her eyes, and her full figure slumps slightly. The poor girl hasn’t gotten a break since she started working as the pack nurse. I think back to the night we brought Percy in here, steeped in the serum. How Maisie and Rosa had worked tirelessly to cure him. Since then, it’s been fighting and wars and trying to find antidotes. When this mess with the vampires is over, Maisie needs a vacation.

I look around the room, noting that everyone looks tired, and wary. Maybe we all need a vacation.

“And I’ve been in bed for hours,” Triste sighs, pulling me out of my thoughts as she rubs a hand on her forehead. She takes a deep breath, then comes to Olivia’s bedside, setting her hands lightly on the bed. After a moment, she starts pulling out little bottles and setting them on a medical tray. “Aris said it’s a curse?”

“Yes, I heard it myself,” I say, meeting her eyes. Anything to keep myself from staring at Olivia. “Through my headphones.”

For the second time since walking in, I have to stand and wait while everyone processes the fact that I was watching Olivia during her mission tonight. I clench my jaw, daring any of them to say something about it.

I was just protecting a member of the team. I’ve told Aris time and time again that we need to up our tech team, improve our capabilities. We need more people who know what they’re doing, and we need to incorporate surveillance into each mission.

It’s invaluable to have someone protecting you. Someone who isn’t present, who’s safe from the current threat, and can manipulate your surroundings.

Maybe this will finally convince him. Or, maybe he’ll tear my head off for defying him in front of everyone.

“Do you remember any part of it?” Triste asks, that odd lilt to her voice as she stares at me. I hate the way she raises her eyebrows; her eyes are so serious and deep that it feels like they’re boring into my soul.

“No,” I say, shaking my head, hands starting to shake at the thought of what might have happened if I’d been cursed, too. At this moment, Olivia could be anywhere. With anyone. “I took my headphones off as soon as I heard the start of it.”

“Damn,” Bigby says, shaking his head and staring down at the little marble in his hand. “I guess the commanders training on curses actually came in handy. Sucks that he turned out to be a total dick, huh?”

“Who is the commander?” Rafael asks, looking around the room, confusion clearly on his face.

“The commander,” Aris says, breezing into the room, “was our old contact at the Agency. I’m the Alpha of this team, and have been since it was formed, but the commander directed our activity. Communicating information. He gave us the goals, and I determined how we would reach them. We all trusted him with our lives, and he betrayed us. He’s part of the reason Percy was hit with the serum. He’s part of the reason why Varun was developing one in the first place. One of my other contacts at the agency reported that he ran the moment details about his activity came out.”

“That doesn’t surprise me,” Percy says, barely contained anger and grief thick in his tone. “Someone like that would run, rather than facing up to what they’ve done.”

Aris meets my eyes, and I can see there that he plans to chat with me later about my unsanctioned surveillance of Olivia’s mission. I give him a little nod, clenching my jaw.

I don’t care if he’s pissed at me. I’m the only reason Olivia is alive right now.

“I’m surprised anyone continues to use curses,” Triste says, clearly not listening to our conversation. She has one hand over Olivia’s forehead. Triste’s palm is glowing with a faint white light, and she has her other hand to her chin. After a moment, she drops her hand to her side, shakes it out, and continues staring at Olivia thoughtfully. “They’re so unpredictable. So many factors to contend with, including the state of the person you’re cursing, and whether they hear all the words or not.”

“So, what are you going to do?” I ask, eyes darting between Olivia and her.

“Well,” she says, clearing her throat and holding her hands out to the side. “I don’t even know where to start without hearing the curse.”

“You can’t hear the curse,” I mutter, “or you’ll fall asleep, too.”

“That’s a good point. But I need to know the words used in order to strategize.”

“Give me one second,” I say, pulling out my laptop. I click over to my cloud storage and find the footage from tonight. Realizing the audio is separate, it takes me a moment to locate it, but when I do, I run it through software that provides a transcript for the audio, all while keeping my laptop firmly on mute, just in case.

Then, I have it.